Helpful
Hints for
Parents of Blind Infants & Toddlersby
Christine Faltz
Reprinted in Future Reflections from Stepping Stone, the
newsletter of the Long Island Chapter of Parents of Blind Children.

Editor's
Note: Blind herself, Christine is the mother of a beautiful little
girl, Samantha, who is also legally blind. Christine is a former NFB
scholarship winner, and an attorney who has chosen to stay home to be
a full-time mom. Like so many full-time moms, Christine has taken on
other volunteer jobs. She is the president of the NFB Long Island parent's
chapter and editor of the chapter's very fine newsletter, "Stepping
Stone." Here is an example of some of the excellent advice and information
Christine shares with her chapter's members:

When a
blind or visually impaired child is only a few months old, most parents
are still trying to cope with the fears and uncertainties of having
a disabled child. Conflicting information and advice is especially overwhelming
at this time. This is often compounded by the unfortunate attitudes
of many in the medical profession and, worse yet, by those who work
with the blind. We have come a long way but, even today, an alarming
number of professionals working with blind children and adults have
low expectations for their clients and such negative attitudes that
they act surprised when confronted with successful, self-sufficient
visually impaired men and women.

Despite
these attitudes we must remember that our attitudes are the ones which
will affect our children the most. Even in the face of deeply entrenched
stereotypes and professional misinformation and biases, we must hold
fast to the idea that if we pay our dues now, our children will reap
priceless benefits in self-esteem, self-advocacy, and the knowledge
that we believe in their individual potential.

Positive
attitudes and matter-of-fact adaptation of the world for our blind and
visually impaired children starts at birth. As far as basic needsholding,
feeding, dressing (assuming no medical complications)there is
nothing extra or special that must be done for the blind infant. There
are, however, very simple techniques that can be employed to give your
baby as much information as possible about his or her environment.

When a
baby is only a few months old, her ability to hear you does not necessarily
mean your location is known, and she has no way of knowing that you
are, perhaps, about to pick her up or fix her blanket. Before you pick
up the child or move something nearby, state what you are going to do,
or at the very least say the child's name before touching her. There
is no need to handle a blind child more carefully than you would a sighted
child; she is not more fragile and is not predisposed to being extra
anxious or fussy. Keep in mind that for the first few weeks of life,
sighted babies are only able to see people and objects very close to
their faces anyway.

When you
take your child from room to room, outside to the car, or into the store,
to the extent that you are able to do so under the circumstances (time,
who's with you, etc.), you should state simply where you are going and
what you are doing. Hearing everyday speech is good for all babies'
language development, but the blind child will be able to use your verbal
cues to begin distinguishing, with her other senses, a change in location.
For example, my 20-month-old daughter was able, at about one year, to
go to the kitchen or the bathroom when told to do so. I spent a lot
of time telling her: "We're going to go into the kitchen so Mommy can
clean up. We're going out of your room," (putting her hands on the door)
"and we're going straight. Mommy and Daddy's bedroom, where we sleep
in the bed at night, is on the right. The bathroom, where you have your
bath, is on the left. After the bedroom are the steps going downstairs
to outside. Now here's the living room, with the television and the
stereo. We turn left, and here's the kitchen."

I tried
to use the same descriptions as often as possible. When I had the time,
I showed her the furniture in the room, spoke its name and its purpose.
Even when very young, Samantha was very attentive when I spoke, and
though she obviously didn't understand most of what I was saying in
the beginning, repetition eventually led to absorption and understanding.

An older
baby and toddler will often attempt to do what Mommy and Daddy are doing:
fold laundry, clean the table, wash the dishes. When it is safe to do
so, I show Samantha what I am doing and explain: "Mommy is giving the
dirty dishes a bath. They have food on them. Then we'll dry them with
a towel, just like you after your bath."

Don't take
anything for granted. If your child is curious, show whatever it is
safe to show him. Then, when your attention is desired at an inopportune
moment, "One minute, sweetheart; Mommy's cleaning the table" will actually
have a concrete meaning; it will not merely be a jumble of words that
he has heard but doesn't understand because he cannot see what it is
you are doing. Eventually, he will put together your location, the sound
of the water on the rag, the sound of the rag on the table, and will
know on his own what you are doing. But until you give meaning to the
sounds and smells and textures in his world, your blind baby cannot
learn the function of the objects in his environment. Do not feel foolish
describing every little thing and activity to your baby. It can only
help him.

I personally
don't like playpens, especially for totally blind infants. Put your
child on the floor with some toys; place a noisy toy out of his reach
to entice him to move to find it. This way he can learn that his environment
is far more than what he is readily aware of. When he begins to creep
or crawl, show him the boundaries between rooms, the extent of rooms,
how he can move around tables and chairs, but not around walls. Expose
your child to everything: show him the steps, the trees in your yard,
the grass. Take him to the beach and show him the sand, how the water
moves, sea shells. Show him the inside and outside of the car his car
seat is in. Show, show, and show some morehands on whenever possiblewith
constant explanations using simple statements. Teach care providers
to do the same. Place toys on accessible shelves and show him where
they are in relation to other objects in the room. As he begins to show
understanding of words and begins to use words to express needs and
desires, you will see that these efforts have paid off. By the time
he is walking, your child will know "right" and "left" and will have
no trouble moving about familiar surroundings with ease.